Thank you to all of you who currently serve or at one time served our country. You are amazing and I think and pray for you and your families everyday. Please know there are those of us who care and respect what you are doing probably more than what the media portrays. You are heroes in my book. I pray you can come home one day soon.

Happy be-lated Veterans day and God bless. Thank you, Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

I was referred to beingamomisgreat.wordpress.com. Another mom’s blog. I cannot wait to continue reading. Anyway, she wrote a really good post on Mrs. Seinfield’s book Deceptively Delicious. The post was called Decidedly Disappointing “Deceptively Deliscious” cook book.

I have not viewed it myself but I was inspired by Opera’s show featuring Jessica Seinfeld. I even asked for this book for Christmas but since I read this mom’s review and saw some other negative feedback I have decided to check it out from the library and view it before I buy it.

I did however put pureed pumpkin in my pancakes and no one knew and they were delicious but pumpkin does not have a strong taste. We will see after I can check it out then I can see for myself if it is good or not. And I can give an honest review. I love to cook and I am always looking for ways to get my older one to eat more veggies. She used to eat anything and then she got a little picky when it comes to certain foods. I am praying that she will go back to those foods I fed her for almost 5 years. She still eats healthy but I would like her to get more color in her diet.

Update: I did receive this book for Christmas but have not had a chance to use any of the recipes. I am sure they are good. We’ll see. If you try checking it out of the library you will have a long wait. I tried and it was going to be a year before I could check it out so I am glad I received it for a gift.

We had a guest speaker at church who goes around Africa and Burma to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and see people healed and saved. His name is Chistopher Alam and he was born and raised muslum in Pakistan and he became a Christian 32 years ago. He has been imprisoned for his faith in Christ. He preached a simple message tonight. God is the same yesterday, today and in the future. We have to have faith. If we just believe, God will do miracles in our lives. His words says so and nothing is impossible for him. I have seen his healing power first hand countless times. We have to press in and seek Him. We have to have a relationship with him. It is not about going to church once a week. We have to live this life 24/7. All He wants is to have a relationship with us and all we have to do is believe. I do not have the time to sit down and read much but I do talk to God all day long. I would like to to start reading my Bible more. This was an inspiring message for me.

My youngest daughter wanted her dancing Elmo. He was singing and dancing and he fell over. She picked him up, hugged and patted him then cried. It appeared she thought he was hurt and she was trying to comfort him the way we do her or her sister when they are hurt. It was so cute. I almost cried!

Oh my goodness this is the best thing since sliced bread! I gave away our food processor that we received as a wedding gift because I never used one and my grandmothers went out. Anyway, I am making german chocolate pecan pies for Thanksgiving and I have fresh pecans from some family trees in South Georgia. So my grandmother brought the chopper over, and I love it. I chopped some pecans and I made homemade chicken salad. I chopped chicken, pecans, apples, grapes and celery and added light mayo. Yummy!

Well, I am starting to exercise again and trying to lose a much needed 45-50 lbs. After two children, I have let myself go. You would have thought after having my gall bladder removed in January I would have kept with my new low fat lifestyle. No, I went back to the old one, and I just decided this past weekend I need to do something instead of complaining about being over weight. I have struggled with my weight all of my life except for a year or two where I pretty much starved myself to be thin. I thought it was all about being thin not about being healthy. Oh the ride was fun since everyone would comment on how much weight I had lost and I looked great. I could fit into all those cute clothes like everyone else. At what cost though? I constantly heard God saying, “what are you doing? I have more for you. You can lose your life or risk not having children.” I was losing my hair, felt like I was going to pass out all the time, could not think, I was trying to bury the pain of losing my father and grandfather so close together. Through God I stopped. I did get some counseling and to this day I still have thoughts. I went to the other extreme as most of us do, overeating. I emotionally eat. If I get stressed, sad, happy, depressed I eat. I don’t buy junk food because of that very reason, yet I have still managed to put on so much weight since I got married. I want to be healthy. I do not want to die at an early age like my dad. I don’t want my children to go through the same food struggles I go through.

This was my wake up call. This year, 2007, I am going to get healthy and stay healthy. It is not about a number but a way of life. A way to feel good, look good and feel alive. I don’t feel that now. I am in constant physical pain with my back because my 5 foot 1 inch frame was not made to carry this much weight. My legs and entire body hurt. I want to feel like a 30 year old not a 65 year old.

I started yesterday. I walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes a day so far. My goal is to work up to 30-45 minutes a day. I am also watching what I eat. I do like sweet stuff so instead of cutting it out all together I buy the 100 calorie pack snacks and it is portioned out for me. I got some tips off biggest loser. I am also chewing sugar free gum when I am hungry. I am working on low fat and healthy recipes. I am also trying portion control. We have to have boundaries in our lives without them we fall. It is the same with discipline, food, anything really. I am starting to put those boundaries up. This is not only for my health but for my husband and daughters so they will not go through what my mom and I did when we lost my dad. It has been 14 years since he passed away. There is not a moment that does not go by that I do not think about him. What he has missed. He has missed my graduations, high school and college. He has missed my wedding, the birth of my girls and so many other things. We were close and I do miss him. I want to be at every major event in my kids lives and I want to grow old with my husband, so for that I will sacrifice and lose the weight, exercise and eat healthy. It is a lifestyle not a diet. It is so important and I am finally getting that.